LOT 37

A signed McLaren MP4 nose cone from the 1981 British Grand Prix weekend winning car, driven by John Watson,

Estimate: £1,200 - £1,400

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Lot 37

A signed McLaren MP4 nose cone from the 1981 British Grand Prix weekend winning car, driven by John Watson,

The Miami Auction Online|13 May 2024, 12:36 BST|Guildford

A signed McLaren MP4 nose cone from the 1981 British Grand Prix weekend winning car, driven by John Watson,

Bright red and white in colour, with sponsors logos for Marlboro and Unipart, with red 7 to centre, 110cm long overall, signed in black marker 'To Mike & all the "Uniparts", Lotsaluv, John Watson'.

Footnotes

The Vendor was formerly part of the marketing team at Unipart. Unipart had toyed with rallying sponsorship but ended up going for single seater racing, starting with Formula 3 before going to Formula 1.

When John Watson won the British Grand prix in 1981, the vendor's boss asked him to obtain a gold Jaguar XJS HSE from a dealer as a reward for winning.

At the time Unipart were running a campaign with the strap line, "Unipart - where else but out in front", The British Grand Prix winning McLaren had Unipart on the front edge of the nose cone and so the image of the car was heavily featured in all future promotional material.

Ron Dennis let the vendor have the nose cone from that weekend, which was then signed as displayed in the images.

Additional information

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